


Under The Influence

by the_riptide_queen



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Human AU, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking, this is barely even mentioned in the beginning but it comes in later i promise u, uhhh, what do i even tag this as wow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-04-24 05:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4907227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_riptide_queen/pseuds/the_riptide_queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They met at a stop sign on the corner of the street, but things kind of went downhill from there.</p><p>---</p><p>Yo it's me,,, the-riptide-queen from tumblr! Ive been really lazy with updating schooled bc it just wASNT GOING ANYWHERE but i'll continue it someday, in the meantime here's this lmao updates wILL BE SLOW I'm warning you now !! but i'm really excited about this story i hope u guys like it... so yeah, lets do this shit!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 12:47 AM

She finds herself sitting on the curb, drunk and sad. She partied too hard. She got a knock on the head and lost her jacket. She's cold. It's about to snow. She can feel a few tiny snowflakes falling on her bare shoulders. It's that time of year when it's cool enough to snow, but the very next morning the snow's gone. It's as if it never happened. 

Lapis doesn't know what to do at this point. She doesn't want to go home, who knows what her parents would think of her staggering into the house at 12:30 am, crying profusely. 

And so there she sits. Red lipstick smudged across her cheek, party dress stained with some sort of liquor that she doesn't even recognize, and tears dripping down her cheek. 

She wipes her eyes, clearly not giving a shit about the mascara that's obviously running and more on her face than her actual eyelashes. She ponders on what to do. Calling home isn't an option, her phone's dead, and due to the fact that she doesn't really know where she is, she couldn't crash at a friends house. All she has is her high heels in her hand, and a purse containing not enough money to buy herself something good to eat, some Tic Tacs, and some other random stuff that was of no use to her. 

Was this how it was all going to end? Was she going to become some sort of creep living in alleyways, begging for people's spare change? No. She had to find her way home. She's probably on the north side of town, the one part of town that she had only ever been once before this. When she woke up (if she fell asleep), she'd ask a person driving by for directions on how to get back to the south side where she lived. 

Most likely her friends are gone. They're probably off doing something they shouldn't be, not even thinking twice about leaving Lapis on that curb. She won't talk to them at school on Monday, if they're even there and not still hungover, sitting at home. After all, what else would they expect from her. To forget it even happened? 

Probably. 

Her parents are probably sleeping peacefully. They don't know that Lapis went to this party, in fact she snuck out of the house at around 10:30. They're probably not worried, they probably think that Lapis is fast asleep in her room. But even if they knew she was out, would they be worried that she wasn't home yet?

Probably not. 

Lapis had a bad relationship with her parents. They didn't give two fucks about their daughter. She was just another one of their problems that they had to deal with. They always fought, her mother was working constantly to earn a living. Her father was never not stoned. Lapis was part of a broken family, and it was obvious. Everyone at school knew, including the teachers. Her parents never showed up to parent teacher interviews, she took forever to hand in forms that needed to be signed, and when they finally did get handed in, it was always a crudely initialed scribble from her father. Her mother was never around. They didn't have time for her. 

But admittedly, Lapis wasn't having the worst luck. 

Somewhere down that very same street, a cry echoed loudly down the street. Not a cry even, but more like a shout. 

"STEVEN!" 

A blonde girl. She runs up the street, calling out the name. Lapis looks up. She notices this girl, and slowly stands herself up (with the help of a stop sign on the curb). 

The girl has glasses. They're big and round and they make her eyes look like they're bugging out. She's also very short, probably standing about five feet tall, 4, maybe 5 inches shorter than Lapis. This girl looks worried, like she's lost someone. What is lapis thinking, of course she's lost someone! Why else would she be calling out the name "Steven" every five seconds? Lapis squints and peers over to the girl. She's walking towards her. 

"Um, excuse me?" The girl calls out to Lapis. "Sorry to bother you but..." As the girl gets closer, she notices Lapis' smudged makeup and teary eyes. "Whoa, are you... Alright? Are you okay?" She asks. 

"Mmm, I'm ok." Lapis mumbles with a sniff. 

"You sure?" The other girl chuckles. She doesn't believe her. She knows something's wrong. Lapis doesn't want to tell her though. 

"Yeah." Lapis nods. 

"Okay, well, have you seen a little boy? He's about this tall." She puts her hand to where her shoulder is. "Also he's got brown curly hair? Kinda chubby?" 

Lapis shakes her head. She hadn't seen him. 

"Oh, that's a shame. I've been looking for him everywhere." The girl sighs, disappointed. She runs a hand through her choppy bangs. 

"You lost a kid? What the fuck, man?" Lapis slurs (making it it sound more like, "Whu-tuh-fuuuuck, man...") "I'm tryin' to figure out what to do..." She says. "I dunno where I am..."

There's a silence. An awkward, prolonged silence. Lapis subconsciously starts staring right in the girl's face, while the girl just gives a rather creeped out look. Finally, she speaks up. 

"Okay, this might be completely random since we just met and all, but..." The girl says, brushing her hand through her hair again. It must be a nervous tick, or just a habit. "Uh, you don't look like you're doing anything, so... Maybe I could help you find your way home, only if you help me find my neighbour's kid." 

Lapis widens her eyes. She hums, pondering on the offer. It's a good, fair deal. The girl seemed pretty trustworthy, as far as trustworthy people go. She looks smart, too. But most of all, she looks like a total local. She'll know the way home. 

"Are you sure?" Lapis questions her with a suspicious look, not that she was suspicious of her. It was just for effect. Maybe she doesn't realize that Lapis is drunk. Well, she probably does, but still...

"Uh... Yes." The other girl nods slowly. "I can help you out if you help me." 

"Okay." Lapis shrugs. "Y-you do realize, I'm like, super fucking hammered at this point in time, right?" She asks, just to confirm. 

"It's a little obvious." 

"Right."

"Oh, by the way," The girl says, "My name's Peridot. Like the gemstone."

Peridot. _Peridot._ It matches her eyes. 

"I'm Lapis." She says, after thinking for a moment.

"Like the gemstone?" Peridot asks with a small grin, humoured by the fact that their names come from the same origin.

"Yeah, just like the gemstone."


	2. Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> steven has no clue what he's getting himself into omg the poor kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 aaaahhh!! Thank u guys for all the nice comments on tumblr :) in this chapter you get to see what Steven's up to!!!

"I thought it was this way..."

 

Walking down the sidewalk was put into a whole new perspective for Steven at night. It's gloomy and eerie, and not the kind of eerie that Halloween brings, but the kind that makes him wonder if someone is actually watching him. 

The reason behind why he left the house in the first place was because he wanted to find the constellations in the night sky. Once his babysitter, Peridot, had sat him down in his room with a bag of those mini chocolate covered pretzels and Netflix on her laptop, he had started watching The Princess And The Frog, hence why he became so curious about the stars. He then walked down the street, then down the avenue, then down another street. He was looking for the perfect stargazing spot. He still hadn't found it, but he had made it his goal to find it. Problem is, he hadn't really been keeping track of time. He doesn't know how long he'd been out. It doesn't feel like long. In fact, he feels like he just left the house minutes ago. It was probably longer though. Hours even. He doesn't let that stop him. He needs to find the perfect place to see the stars. 

He enters a cul de sac. It's got some nice houses, but none are very familiar. Another complication he realizes is, a cul de sac means a dead end. Steven starts to inch toward the sidewalk. He makes sure to be extra quiet to that he doesn't wake anyone in their homes. Stepping onto the sidewalk, he peers over to the houses on the end of the circle of houses. There must be some sort of shortcut between the houses. It's dark, so he can just barely see. Suddenly, as he passes in front of one house, a motion sensor light illuminates. This surprises Steven and he scurries away in hopes that no one saw him. After all, what would someone think of a little boy wandering the streets in the middle of the night? Probably "What an irresponsible parent." Well, it's more like an irresponsible babysitter. Peridot was on her phone, probably texting some boy, Steven had assumed. That's what teenage girls did, right? She didn't even notice that he had gone. 

As he makes his way around the cul de sac and into the rounded part, he spots a small dirt road in between two houses. Perfect. He tiptoes onto the dirt road. Surely, it would lead to some sort of a clearing. 

Problem is, it doesn't lead to a clearing, but rather a dark, scummy alley. He gulps. Maybe if he walked to the end of the alley, he'd be able to circle back around and find his way home again. He wonders if Peridot is looking for him, or if she even figured out he was gone. Steven tried to think positively. Of course she's looking for him! She doesn't want to screw up her first babysitting job, right?

Everything is going smoothly down this scary alley. He's not that scared. Well, that is, until he noticed that sitting near the end of the alley, surrounded by a cloud of smoke, sits a person. As Steven gets closer, he notices a girl (he thinks... She looks a bit like a bodybuilder, though). She's got long, bleached blonde hair, she's holding something small between her index and middle fingers. Steven thinks it's a cigarette, although it * really * doesn't smell like it. Suddenly, she looks up, glaring directly toward Steven. 

"Hey kid!" She calls out to him. 

"Me?" 

"Yeah, who else?" 

Steven slowly inches up to her. The closer he gets, the more he notices about her. She has a sharp jawline and narrow, scary looking eyes. With a wave of her hand, she motions for him to come over. She tosses whatever she was smoking to the side and stomps it out with the toe of her boot. 

"Whatcha doing out here so late, kiddo?" She asks him. 

"Nothing..." Steven mumbles. "What are you doing?" 

"Mm, not much." She stops for a second and taps her chin. Suddenly, a mischievous look appears in her eyes. "Hey, you look like the kind of kid that would like candy, am I right?" 

Steven gulps. He's heard about this trick. The scary person asks the kid if they want candy, the kid says yes, the person lures the kid into their car and kidnaps them. Could that be what was happening right now? No way! That only happened in movies. He had never heard of that in real life. Plus, he couldn't see himself ever being dumb enough to walk right into a kidnapping. And this was such a safe city...

"Yeah, I like candy." Steven says. 

"Awesomeeee, I've got some in my car! You should come with me." She grins. 

Steven widens his eyes, surprised because this is, in fact, exactly like the movies. He had to remind himself that movies weren't real. They were made up stories written by a bunch of people. Plus, how terrible could this strange, creepy new person really be? 

He decides to trust her. After all, she might have a heart of gold under that rough exterior. So, he follows her to the car. It's not much of a car, but rather an old beat up minivan. It was rusty around the wheels and an ugly brown colour. Gross, Steven thinks to himself. 

The door of the passenger seat swings open. 

"Entrez-vous." She says. Steven isn't sure what that means, but he assumes it's some fancy language for "come in". So, he does. He climbs into the front seat. 

"Y'know, my mom and dad wouldn't usually let me go into a stranger's car, but," he looks at her through a thoughtful squint. "You seem nice."

She chuckles. "I'm the nicest person you'll ever meet, trust me." She smirks. 

"What's your name, by the way?" Steven asks her. 

"Jasper." 

"I'm Steven." He smiles.  
"Alright. So, Steven," Jasper says, sticking her key into the ignition, "You ready to have some fun?"

"W-what sort of fun?" Steven asks her. He's slightly suspicious now. And where's that candy she promised?

"Okay," Jasper starts, pulling out of the driveway where she's parked. "Do you ever play video games?" 

This catches his attention. "Oh, yeah! I love video games!" Steven grins. 

"Well, we've got a mission, just like in a game." Jasper tells him. "We're gonna play a game with some guards over at the McDonalds downtown on Seymour street."  
"Guards?"

"Yes, guards. They're guarding our prize." Jasper explains. 

"W-what's our prize?" Steven stammers, worried. 

"The moolah."

Steven raises an eyebrow. What's she talking about?

"The cha-ching?"

He still doesn't know. 

"The money." Jasper clarifies. 

Steven slips on his seatbelt and then clasps his hands in his lap. He suddenly regrets his decision. He's scared. He wants his mom to come and get him. 

He wants to go home.


	3. My House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialogue in this chapter rip
> 
> Also if ur squeamish u may need to skip over the first little paragraph or 2 bc lapis throws up lmao
> 
> (is that a trigger even??)
> 
> (Idfk)

"Maybe we should get you cleaned up." 

Peridot looks Lapis up and down. She really does look like a wreck. She wonders if she can quickly take Lapis back to her house, just to take off all her makeup and get her into some clean clothes. She wonders if this is a good idea. Then, almost seconds later, she realizes it's the best idea she'd ever had, because Lapis decides this is the perfect time to throw up. 

All over the sidewalk. 

Peridot jumps back in both surprise and disgust, just as Lapis starts bawling again. Peridot shudders. She can somewhat deal with a crying child, but not a drunk teenaged girl. She puts an arm around Lapis so that she can balance, and Lapis does the same. She walks her down the sidewalk. Her house is only a block or two away. Lapis can wash her face or something. 

They walk along the sidewalk. 

"Where are we going..." Lapis says, almost whispering. 

"We're just gonna go to my house really quickly." Peridot explains. "You can't go around looking like this. We've gotta clean you up."

Lapis lets out an absentminded laugh. "Heheh, look at me, a stranger is luring me into her house." She giggles. "A STRANGER IS LURING ME INTO HER HOUSEEEE!" She shouts. 

"Shhh!" Peridot covers Lapis' mouth with her hand. "Be quiet! Someone could hear you and think you're actually serious!" But then it occurs to her that Lapis is absolutely right. She was a stranger luring her into her house. Well, not luring. More like assisting her. She was helping her look decent, because this was going to be quite the adventure, and it would likely take a while, maybe even until morning. 

They make it to Peridot's house, which is right next to Steven's. Peridot fumbles through her hoodie pockets and grabs ahold of her house keys. Just as she goes to unlock the front door, she turns to face Lapis. 

"So Lapis, now we're gonna go in but my mom and dad are in there, so you're gonna have to be super extra quiet, okay?" Peridot tells her. Lapis seems to be ignoring her, as she's still giggling, but with tears in her eyes. She's looking at the ground. 

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Peridot snaps her fingers in front of Lapis's face, to which she replies in a small snarl. She rolls her eyes and finally begins to pay attention. "Okay, so can you please try to be quiet?" 

"Yeah, whatever." Lapis grumbles. 

Man, this girl is moody, Peridot thinks to herself. She opens the front door and they tiptoe into the house. Lapis is surprisingly keeping pretty quiet, copying Peridot's every move. Once they get to the end of the hallway, Peridot opens the door to the bathroom. She grabs a few things from the cupboards and then sits down on the floor. 

"Okay, now sit right here." Peridot gestures to a spot on the floor right beside her. Lapis slowly sits herself down by Peridot. "Why don't we clean off all your makeup?" 

She puts some makeup remover onto a cotton ball and, with a shaky hand, puts one hand on Lapis' shoulder. With the other hand, she starts to take off Lapis' makeup. She has to constantly remind the other girl to stop squirming and scrunching up her face. 

"This is so weird..." Lapis giggles. 

"I know," Peridot replies, whispering. She takes another cotton ball and starts to remove the lipstick smudge along with the remaining lipstick on her lips. Her lips are soft, as is the rest of her face. She must usually take good care of herself. But, apparently, tonight was an exception. 

"Okay, I think it's all gone." Peridot nods in approval. "Now let's get some clean clothes." She stands up, before promptly helping Lapis up. She walks her to her bedroom. "Sorry about the mess, by the way." Peridot says. Her bedroom literally looks like a major earthquake had just happened. Everything was out of place. 

Peridot reaches into one of her (already opened) drawers. After searching around for a bit, she pulls out a large, grey t shirt and tosses it to Lapis, who fails to catch it, but goes back to grab it from where it landed on the ground. She then passes to Lapis a pair of sweatpants. She catches them this time. 

"Here, change out of your dress into these." Peridot tells her. "I'll turn around." She sits down in a chair at her desk, waiting for Lapis. 

Moments later, she hears a humming sound. It's Lapis, Peridot realizes. She's humming Uptown Funk. Peridot grumbles and leans her chin in her hands. She's humming louder now. Peridot tries to discreetly cover her ears with her hands. She manages to do so without Lapis noticing, although having longer hair would have made a difference. Having a pixie cut was not useful. Lapis starts drumming the beat on her thighs as she continues to hum obnoxiously loudly. Peridot groans. 

"Are you done?" She asks, meaning both "Are you done changing?" and "Are you done singing?". 

"Yeah, yeah, I was done a long time ago." Lapis laughs, while Peridot just rolls her eyes. 

"Okay then, let's head out." Peridot tells her. She grabs her by the arm and they stealthily slip out of the house. 

Once they get back outside, Lapis sighs, obviously not wanting to walk. "Do you have a car?" 

"No, but I know how to drive." Peridot tells her. Well, admittedly, Peridot is not the best driver. She just barely passed her drivers test a few months ago. The only time she ever drives is to the grocery store for her mom, and to school. But both destinations were very close to her home. She barely has experience, but at least it's better than a drunk person. That's illegal, anyways, wasn't it?

"We've gotta find a car. I don't wanna walk. I'm way too tired." Lapis complains, sighing again. 

She does have a point. Peridot doesn't want to walk either, and driving would be a little less weird than walking. But who would lend her a car at this hour? Who would be not even a little suspicious about Peridot going out in the middle of the night in their car? Who would trust her with their life, let alone their car? Suddenly it came to her. It was so obvious!

"I know just the car."


	4. Robbery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> don't trust jasper.   
> but also, trust jasper.

Steven isn't scared, now he's terrified. 

After Jasper drove around a little bit to get to the McDonalds and parking around the back, she shoves a ski mask over Steven's head. Reaching back into the backseat of the van, she grabs two black hoodies. She slips one on quickly, then looks at Steven, sizing him up. Clearly, he's a lot smaller than her. Shrugging, she tosses it to Steven, obviously urging him to put it on quickly, made clear by her urgent glare. Steven hesitantly slips it on, and almost gags. It smells. He isn't sure what it smells like, but it's not good. It's awful. 

Jasper slips on a ski mask after she shoves her hair into a careless knot. She looks to Steven. 

"Ready?" She asks.

No, he's not ready. He realizes what's going on. They're going to rob them. That was a crime, not some sort of game. He wants to run for his life. He doesn't want to go to jail, he wants to go back home and go to sleep like he should have. Having to deal with Peridot getting mad at him would be nothing compared to the trouble he'd get into with his parents. 

But he's already here. What other choice does he have?

"Why are you doing this?" Steven asks. "I know you know it's bad." He can almost hear Jasper's stomach drop. She sighs. 

"Look, kid, things are bad right now for me. I've got no money." She says, lowering her voice. "I lost my job a while back. But you're here now. You're small. You're fast. We can get in and out of there in seven minutes tops!" 

Steven snarls, annoyed. Jasper can't see his face behind the ski mask, though. Only his eyes are visible, and Jasper sees that they're narrowed in annoyance. 

"You've gotta help me out here." Jasper sighs again. "Please." Steven crosses his arms. "Oh c'mon, don't give me that look." She reaches down underneath the seat and pulls out a paper bag. "I have donuts. They're from where those kids Lars and Sadie work. You can have one when we get back." 

Steven's eyes seem to light up at this. "O-okay." He says. 

A grin crosses Jasper's face. "Alright! Let's get that cash!" She pushes open the door of the vehicle and jumps out, Steven doing the same on the other side. "We've gotta be really quiet until we get in." 

"What happens when we get in?"

"We get real loud." 

•••••••

Steven had only heard of robberies in TV. He never thought he'd actually be a part of one. By the time Jasper bursts through the front door and starts screaming at the people, Steven knows he's in too deep. Jasper seems to be an expert at this. She pulls out a shotgun. 

"GET DOWN!" Jasper shouts. "Give me your money!" 

The girl at the counter looks terrified. Her brown eyes are fixed on the robber. Steven recognizes her. That's Amethyst. She used do always hang out at the arcade with her friends. She'd always cheat at the basketball game by walking right up to the hoop and simply dropping the ball in. Steven always admired all the guts it took to stand up to the owner of the arcade every time she got in trouble for cheating. But now, she isn't as fearless, but rather terrified. 

"HEY!" Jasper yells at the girl. "Do you wanna die tonight? You wanna fucking die tonight?" 

Amethyst doesn't respond. She slowly shakes her head. The small gesture makes Jasper let out a small chuckle that could only be heard by someone standing inches away from her. 

"Then give me the fucking money!" She shouts, jumping up onto the counter and onto the other side. She pushed Amethyst away and smashes the cash register with her two fists. It pops open, and she scoops up as much money as she can. Amethyst looks like she's going to cry. Her bottom lip starts to quiver and her eyes are huge, she barely blinks. 

While Jasper is doing this, Steven isn't really sure what to do. 

RUN. 

Don't run. 

GET OUT OF HERE!

Stay, or she'll get mad. 

He doesn't want to know the trouble he'll get into if he leaves, but he really doesn't want to know the trouble he'll be in if he stays. It's a win win. Well, more like a lose lose. He decides to stay. After all, he'll get donuts. 

That's a terrible reason to stick around. 

Jasper's calling out his name now. She's holding a bag full of cash and she's telling him to get out of the building. She wants him to meet her at the car and to hurry. Steven does this. He's too scared to do anything else. So, he walks out the front door and rather than getting back in the car, he sits on the pavement beside it and his bottom lip starts to quiver and he feels that familiar bump in his throat. His eyes start watering and he starts to cry, deciding to let it all out before Jasper gets back. His face in his hands, tears start falling down his cheeks. He just wanted to look out at the stars, not be a part of some... Dynamic duo robbing some fast food place. As cheesy as it is, he wants his mom and dad, and if not, he wants Peridot to come and find him. Even though all she's been is an irresponsible stereotypical teenager, he would still run up to her and give her a hug. 

Soon enough, Jasper gets back. 

"Alright, kiddo, time to hit the road!" 

Steven wipes his eyes with the sleeve of the hoodie. He stands up and follows Jasper into the car. Jasper does the same. There's nothing much said on the drive. Steven isn't too sure what they're doing or where they're going. There are no words spoken on the drive. It's finally Steven who speaks. 

"Jasper?" He asks. 

"What?" 

"Can I... Um, can I have that donut now?" 

Jasper sighs and reaches into the bag of donuts, pulling out a chocolate jelly one. That's Steven's favourite. 

"Chocolate jelly? Know did you know?" Steven grins. 

"Meh, I just had a hunch." 

The rest of the time is pretty much silent, the only sounds being the radio playing nothing but pop music, constantly being blanked out by static, and the sound of the tires rolling on the street.


	5. Car Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lapis has bad breath ew
> 
> •••
> 
> Lexi wanted me to call this chapter "grand theft auto"......

Peridot can tell that Lapis is starting to sober up a bit, she can see it in her demeanour. She's starting to sit up a little straighter, she's walking in less of a crooked slump, and her slurred words are beginning to sound a bit more comprehendible. She's still drunk, though. Like the baby steps after tipsy. Peridot had never been drunk before, due to the unfortunate fact that her parents were way too overprotective. She was never allowed to go to a person's house whom her parents had never met before, let alone go to a party. Their rule was for her to stay in the safe lane. Any "wild teenager" business and they'd have her grounded. But the number one golden rule was no lying. Ever. They trusted Peridot with that rule, and she followed it. She lived by it like she'd never be trusted again if she acted against it because, admittedly, that was the truth of the matter. She was responsible with things like that. The thing is, she was never given the opportunity to break that rule. She was never invited to parties, the reason being that she wasn't popular enough, or pretty or friendly or talented enough. She didn't follow the latest trends. To her, a hoodie and leggings was a sensible fashion choice. She couldn't dance for the life of her, so partying would just be embarrassing for her. So what if she had a great personality? Nobody cared to find out. But, if people didn't want to talk to her, she would return the favour. That meant being antisocial and out of the loop and not going to football games in the fall (even though she wanted to). 

She tries not to think about it though, so she shoves her hands in her pockets and tells Lapis to follow her. 

"We're going to my grandmas house. She lives just down the street from here. We'll borrow her car." Peridot explains before Lapis even asks, as she can tell that she was going to. 

"Ooh, let's hijack it!" Lapis grins deviously. Peridot sighs, deciding not to explain the plan until they get there. 

She was going to do something she had never done. Something sneaky. She had a gameplay in her head, and if she could get Lapis to cooperate, they would be able to execute this plan flawlessly in a matter of minutes. 

Peridot knew that her grandmother always kept a spare house key under the door mat (of course, what grandma didn't do that?) so she could get into the house. Then, she'd go upstairs to her grandmother's room, where she would talk to her in her sleep. Her grandmother tended to talk in her sleep all the time, which was a huge advantage. She could direct them straight to the car keys, and from there, they'd slip out of the house take the car. Simple. 

Maybe. 

Once they reach the house, Peridot drags Lapis up to the front door and reaches down to the door mat. Just as she does so, she feels a sharp strike on her butt, of all places, followed by teasing snickers, followed by Lapis laughing. 

"Oh my god, Lapis. Shut the fuck up!" Peridot whisper-shouts. "Why would you do that? Why would you ever-" Lapis cuts her off before she can finish. 

"It was the perfect opportunity. Your ass was just... Right there, y'know? I couldn't pass up a chance like that." She says, giggling like a little kid. 

Peridot rolls her eyes and reaches down again, slipping her hand under the door mat. She feels around a bit for the key until her fingers finally brush against the rugged metal. She grabs ahold of the keys and stands back up, then unlocks the door. She slowly opens it, trying not to let the door squeak. Once they get inside, Lapis steps in front of Peridot. 

"So what are we doing here?" She asks, clearly confused. 

"Ok, here's the plan, Stan." Peridot starts, before promptly being interrupted by the other. 

"Um, my name is Lapis, not Stan." She rolls her eyes, but Peridot just shakes that comment off and continues on to explain the whole plan. Lapis seems to start to understand after Peridot repeats sections a few times. She then asks if Lapis can cooperate and follow along without acting childish, because as she'd learned in the last hour or so that they'd known each other, Lapis, when drunk, definitely tends to go off on her own silly way. Lapis replies in a firm nod, though. This surprises Peridot. She's sobering up. Slowly but surely, Peridot decides. 

She takes the other girl by the arm, which gives Lapis a little shiver. Peridot can feel tiny goosebumps on her skin, but they die down shortly. She wonders why that gave her shivers. But that was something to think about later. Not now. Peridot leads her through the house, as she knows her way around. They get to the staircase, but this reminds Peridot of a very crucial fact that could quite possibly blow their cover. This house was old. So old in fact that the nails holding the floorboards in place had started to creak when there was weight put on them, and it was loud. It would definitely wake her up, especially with two people climbing the stairs. Peridot had an idea, but it would require Lapis to be willing to do it... And weigh no more than 95 pounds. 

And she would probably fit that second requirement, she was tiny. 

"Lapis, I'm gonna need you to get on my back."

"What? Why?" Lapis raised one eyebrow. 

"Just trust me on this, okay? It'll be over before you know it." Peridot tells her. "Now, I'm gonna bend down and you're gonna get up onto my back and I'll piggyback you up the stairs." 

Peridot bends down, and Lapis clumsily climbs onto her back, struggling a bit to get ahold on her. When she finally gets on her back, Peridot is surprised at how light she is. It feels as though she's carrying a child. But at the same time, she's aware that she's carrying Lapis. She can feel her breath on her neck. It smells bad, like booze. She tries not to let that bother her though. As she places her foot on the first step, a small, high pitched creak echoes through the house, and Peridot cringes. The next step isn't as bad, but it's still there. It still squeaks. Peridot tries to rush up the stairs now, just to make the squeaks less prolonged. Lapis is tending up her legs and it's hurting Peridot's hips, but she thinks to herself; don't worry about it, that there are only a few more steps remaining. 

They finally reach the top of the stairs after what seems like forever. 

"Okay, you can get down now." Peridot whispers, but Lapis doesn't reply. Peridot cranes her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of Lapis's face. When she does, she doesn't see the dark blue of her eyes, they're closed. She's sleeping. Why is she sleeping? She was probably exhausted, that party must have been pretty legit. 

She decided not to wake her up, as she probably needed some sleep. She begins to walk down the hallway. Once she reaches her grandmother's room, she tiptoes in. She's sleeping, alright. Looks like she's dead. But Peridot knows she's not, she's a terribly heavy sleeper, but she still sleep talks.

Peridot walks up to the bed. Tapping on her shoulder, she starts to try and get her attention. 

"Psstt, grandma?" She whispers. "It's me, Peridot." 

A grumble escapes the old lady's lips, then something that sounds like a snort. Peridot is glad that Lapis is asleep. She won't have to deal with this. 

"Mm, Peri?" Her grandma mutters, still asleep. 

"Yeah, um, I need to borrow your car." Peridot says. "So I'll need your car keys, so... Where are they?" 

Peridot barely makes it out the frail voice, but she can hear something about her purse. Jackpot. Now she just had to find her purse. It was probably on the kitchen table, of course. 

"Okay, I'll make sure to bring it back by morning, thank you!" Peridot tells her. 

She heads back downstairs, a sleeping Lapis still on her back. Sure enough, sitting on the kitchen table sits her purse. After riffling through the contents of the bag a bit, she grabs ahold of the small key ring. Gotcha, she thinks to herself. 

•••

It's getting to be one in the morning. Peridot had gently put Lapis in the passenger seat of the car, trying not to wake her. She decides to let her sleep for a bit, so to keep her occupied, she starts the car and turns on the radio, keeping the volume very quiet, so that it's barely a hum of music. The last thing she wants right now is for Lapis to awake and be grumpy. Some sappy Ed Sheeran song starts to play. Peridot doesn't now all the words, but she had heard it enough times that she's familiar with the melody so she starts to hum along, tapping the mellow beat on the steering wheel with her fingers. Looking out the window, she sees the sky is a beautiful purple-blue haze, still dotted with tiny stars. The moon is cut in half and it hangs just above the car, and if Peridot looks up through the sunroof, she gets a perfect view. The night is so calm and so peaceful. The only sound she can hear is the train rumbling down the tracks a few miles from where she is, a couple crickets, and some cars driving down on the main road. If there was one thing Peridot loved, it was nights in their little city just like this. It was one of the few things that made her happy. 

Soon, Peridot hears Lapis starting to wake up. She gives a small yawn, then stretches her arms a bit. Rubbing her eyes, she glances over at Peridot. 

"Have a nice nap?" Peridot asks. Lapis replied with a nod and a little smile. "I got the car." Peridot says. 

"Nice." Lapis says. "What now?" 

"We keep going."


	6. Boozy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *chanting* SQUARE MOM! SQUARE MOM! SQUARE MOM!

It's way past his bed time. 

Steven sighs because he's so exhausted. For the first time ever (besides New Year's Eve) he was up at one in the morning and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Everything looks like it could just jump out and swallow him up in the dark at any second. Even the moon fails to comfort him. It glows as if it's the sun's evil twin and its glaring at the city below it. Steven imagines it's jealous that it doesn't get as much time to show off than the sun does, or not as much attention for that matter. If his mom and dad were here, he would have made this remark out loud, and they would've laughed about it. His dad would have made fun of the moon for being a jealous loser. His mom would've thought it was cute and she would ruffle his hair. He imagined this all to be happening in his room at home, though. Their conversation would end at this and his mom would tuck him in and kiss his forehead and his dad would turn out the light saying, "Get some sleep, kiddo." Then they'd say goodnight and his mom would close the door only halfway so that there was some light coming into his room from the hallway. Then Steven would cling to one of his many stuffed animals and drift off to sleep. He wished that was what he had done tonight. He missed his parents now, and his room too. He wanted to be at home, but unfortunately he was in an old van with a criminal named Jasper whom he had not quite established a full sense of trust with. He knew that underneath it all, Jasper couldn't be that bad. She was just sad and running low on money and she only robbed the place because she needed something to get by on. 

They drive in silence. Jasper had taken off her mask and her long hair billows down and over her shoulders. It looks like a cloud. Not the puffy kind, but the sad, droopy kind that smears across they sky after a storm like paint. Her amber eyes are fixed on the road, which was good, Steven supposes. At least she's a good driver. He can trust that she won't crash them in a ditch, and that was important. Steven looks out the window and watches each street light pass by. He looks in each shop window. They're all closed, of course. Nobody would be out at this time of night. In fact, he doesn't even see many cars passing by. There's just a few, but he's only seen about four, if you don't count the bus making it's midnight city loop. He wonders if Peridot is on that bus, looping the city, looking for him. It was unlikely, but he wouldn't let himself give up thinking that he'd ever get home. There must be a way, and if nobody came to find him then he just might have to save himself. Maybe. 

He never knew just how quiet a city could get. It was silent. So silent that it was deafening. He still heard the rumble of the car engine, and the radio was mostly static. But still, he found it strange that a city could be so silent. In fact, when Jasper speaks finally, it's loud. She may as well be yelling in his ears. It's when they pull into a liquor store parking lot that she breaks the silence. Jasper stops the van and tells Steven that she'll be back in two minutes and orders him to stay put. He does, knowing that children are not allowed in liquor stores. Hm... Liquor stores...

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Steven has it pieced together in his mind like a puzzle. She wasn't robbing the McDonalds to get money so buy food for her to live off, she had it planned all along. She was going to get alcohol so that she could just get drunk and forget about her innermost angst or something. And that was bad... Really bad. 

Jasper doesn't take long, but when she gets back she is carrying a large plastic bag, and Steven is well aware of the contents sitting inside. She practically throws herself into the front seat and starts up the van, pulling out of the parking lot before Steven can even say anything. They keep driving, and Steven doesn't bring anything up.

Soon, they pull off the main road and into a neighbourhood of homes. It's somehow even more quiet than where they were before. Jasper drives along the street, and as they drive deeper into the neighbourhood, Steven begins to hear a thumping sound. Music. It's a heavy, fast paced beat and it pounds in his head. It draws nearer, and it begins to match the rhythm of Steven's heartbeat as he gets more and more anxious as to where exactly they're going. By the time the music reaches its loudest point, they arrive at a house. It's big, and rather beautiful. It appears to be the only house with light coming from it's windows, but it doesn't look like the lights are on. They're probably strings of tiny light bulbs. Christmas lights. Jasper pulls up to the driveway and grabs ahold of the plastic bag. 

"Okay, kid. I'm gonna go to this party for a bit." She tells him. "You wanna come?" 

Steven feels a lump in his throat. He doesn't say anything, as he's shocked at this offer. Does she not think that he's going to get lost or something? 

Apparently, Jasper takes his silence as a yes. 

"Aw, man, you're gonna have a blast." She grins, getting out of the van and walking around the front, opening Steven's door as if to say that he should get out. "Your first party!" She lets out a whoop and gestures for Steven to follow her in, which he does, hesitantly. 

They enter the house, and everything is exactly like Steven had always imagined high school parties to be like. Music is shaking the walls, sweaty bodies standing around, many of them dancing. It smells bad, awful even. It was like if you were to bake a cake made out of vomit, sweat, alcohol, smoke and perfume. The girls are barely wearing anything, despite the fact that it was early December. The boys all looked the same. Sweaty, messy hair, brightly coloured t-shirts and expensive running shoes. Steven is the only young kid. He shouldn't be here. 

Jasper makes her way into the crowd, a loud cheer erupting when she enters the heat of it all. 

Steven doesn't know what to do at this point. He finds an empty corner and sits down. He crosses his legs. He tries to not cry. Not twice in one night. 

This is it. He's never getting home. 

Just as he starts to loose all hope, a girl walks down the stairs that are near where he sits. She's tall, must be about six feet. Her hair is dark and very curly. She spots Steven, then walks over to him. She crouches down, looking at him. She taps him on the shoulder, and he looks up at her. She gives him a little smile. Next, she begins to talk to him. 

"Hey," She says. Her voice is mellow and soft, and what she says next is what Steven's been needing to hear all night.

"What do you say we get out of here?"


	7. Pout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have graced u with 2 chapters in a row ur welcome
> 
> I've actually had this chapter fully written and done for a very long time aha I'm really excited that I finally get to post it uwu

"Oh, fuck."

"What?" Lapis asks. 

"Well, grandma definitely didn't fill up her tank." Peridot says angrily. "We're gonna have to get gas. Good thing there's a 7-11 just down the hill from here." She looks over to Lapis, who has her legs crossed in the seat beside her, still waking up from her short nap. Her short hair was messy now, and for the first time, Peridot takes into account that it's dyed a deep, oceanic blue. Her roots are starting to grow back in, and they're dark brown. Peridot looks at the girl for a bit, and this doesn't really catch Lapis' attention as she is still rubbing her eyes and waking up. She must have had a good sleep, even if it was only a few minutes. Peridot was jealous. Normally, she never got enough sleep. On a good day, she'd sleep for a solid four and a half hours at night. But she couldn't help it if she liked the night and she liked the silence. It was peaceful. Plus, she knew that if she fell asleep, she'd be wasting this precious time (that she could usually wasted anyways by something completely not productive), and when she fell asleep, she'd just have to wake up again and it would be morning. Mornings were disgusting to her. A dreadful time of day that she had to drink multiple cups of coffee to give herself the motivation to leave the house for school. And she had to brush her hair, which wasn't fun. 

But tonight, sleep seemed like a luxury. A privilege. She wasn't physically tired, she could stay up all night if she wanted to, but the feeling was more so mentally tired. Tired of Lapis' drunk antics. Scared for the morning, when she'd have to go back to Steven's house at presidency eleven thirty the morning and explain the entire story to his parents, Rose and Greg. If she was lucky, she wouldn't have to break the news that their son was missing, somewhere in the city because he'd be standing beside her. He'd probably be smiling and waving at them, then going to hug them. Peridot would get her babysitting cash and be on her way. 

Hopefully. 

Lapis begins to push her hair up into a messy bun, which turns out to be tiny. She then shoves her hands in the pockets of the hoodie she's wearing. Peridot has to remind herself that the hoodie does not in fact belong to Lapis, but to her. It's too bad though, because it looks better on Lapis than it ever did on her. At least that's what she thinks to herself. It seems as though everything Lapis does is flawless. Even what she wears, although the clothing isn't hers. She's that kind of girl. The girl that always looks pretty. Even when she's drunk, even when she's crying, even when she's dressed in the clothes of a loser like herself. Loser. That's what she is, isn't she? It's a good thing Lapis doesn't know this, or else she wouldn't have cared to stick around. 

"Seatbelt." Peridot reminds her. 

"No." Lapis protests. She reminds Peridot of a child. A little girl. She feels like a mother trying to get her daughter to cooperate. But truly, Peridot doesn't want to think of this as a mother-daughter situation. There's something about Lapis. Something that makes Peridot want to get to know her more. 

But not like that. 

Well, like that. 

But not because of that. 

With an irritated scowl, Peridot reaches over across Lapis. After she fumbles around a bit to get the seatbelt, she crosses it over the other girl and buckles her in. Lapis crosses her arms and pouts. 

"Oh, don't pout at me. I'm just trying to keep you safe, your drunk ass should be thanking me." Peridot scoffed. "I'll have you know if I wasn't feeling like a nice person earlier, I wouldn't have even considered talking to you, let alone pick you up." 

This hits Lapis hard, and Peridot notices. She sighs heavily and continues to pout, but she sticks out her bottom lip farther. Shit. Of course. She made her sad. That was the problem with her. She was the worst at interacting nicely. Every time she tried to say something to somebody, it just came across as mean. Luckily, she had learned to be good with kids, so she knew a few little tricks, and one of them perfectly fit this situation. 

"Hey, if you stick out that lip any farther, a bird's gonna come by and sit on it." She teases. "Maybe even make a nest if you're lucky. Lay a few eggs. You'll have a family of birds living on your lip. Is that what you want?"

Peridot can tell that Lapis finds this funny. She tries to maintain her grumpy pout, but a few giggles escape her lips. She stifles them, though. Peridot had found her weakness; bad jokes. Well, to put it on a broader topic, the secret to getting Lapis to cooperate was treating her like a child. Like one of the kids she babysat. It would be easy, she was already a good babysitter, so a drunk-sitter would be no different.

She smiles to herself, then pulls out of the driveway, just dodging the trash bin on the curb. Again, Lapis giggles at Peridot's poor driving skills. It was a good thing that it was so late at night, or else she'd probably get pulled over once she got onto the main road. 

"Y'know, my mom used to say that to me." Lapis says a few minutes later. 

"What?" 

"The whole bird-on-my-lip thing." Lapis tells Peridot. "I used to cry a lot." She says with a little laugh. 

"Oh, yeah?" Peridot asks. 

"Yep, but then she... Uh... Well, it's family- it's personal shit." Lapis sighs, cutting herself off. 

"Well, that's okay. We don't need to talk about it if you don't want to." Peridot says. But the thing is, she wants to know. She wants to know Lapis's story. She's... interested in what she has to say. Lapis seems to have quite an experience under her belt, and she wants to know it. The whole story. 

As nosy as it sounds, she wants to learn about Lapis. 

The drive is quiet after that, until Lapis spots out the window a McDonalds.

"YO! LET'S GET BURGERS!" Lapis shouts, shocking Peridot and making her swerve across the road. 

"Don't. Do. That." Peridot says between anxious inhales. 

"Can we pleeeease stop here?" Lapis pleads. 

"Lapis, do you have any idea how awful it is for you?" Peridot scoffs. "Dis-gus-ting."

"Shut up, just let me live." Lapis rolls her eyes. "Let's go."

She doesn't want to say no to her. Besides, she knows that she'll just start pouring again, and she already used her one good joke about pouts. Using the same joke twice was never effective. So, she pulls off the main road and into the parking lot. She notices huge skid marks on the pavement and wonders what made them. Maybe a minivan. Or a truck. Couldn't have been a small car like the one she was driving.

Once she parks, Peridot unbuckles Lapis's seatbelt, then does her own. They both climb out of the car and up to the doors, but what they see shocks them. It looks like a wreck in there. Tables are knocked over, there are muddy footprints all over the floor, and everyone looks like they had just witnessed a murder or something. 

Peridot realizes that this is the perfect opportunity to ask people if they had seen Steven. He had a little bit of a belly, maybe he likes McDonalds. Maybe he had been here. 

"Hey, welcome to McDonalds. What can I get for you." The girl behind the counter asks on a very monotone voice. Suddenly she rubs her eyes and her face lights up. "Lazuli? Oh man, what's up girl?" 

Lapis grins. "Ame, baby! Haha, I was just at round two." She tells her. 

"No shit! How was it?" The girl behind the counter asks. 

"Meh, round one was better." 

"Um, would anyone care to explain what's going on?" Peridot asks. This must be a friend of Lapis'. 

"Amethyst, meet Peridork." Lapis says. "Peridork, meet Amethyst, my main bitch." To which Amethyst replies with with a laugh. Probably because Lapis calls Peridot by Peridork. Peridot rolls her eyes in reply. 

"Hey," Amethyst says briefly, before continuing their previous conversation. "So what happened, anything big?" 

"Oh man, I dunno, but it was nothing like that time in September." Lapis shrugs. "I dunno if you noticed, but pretty drunk." She giggles. Amethyst joins in with a cackling laugh. Peridot's still confused. What's this about rounds? Round one? Round two? There must have been two parties at the same house.

Wait. She was supposed to ask about Steven. 

"Um, excuse me, Amethyst. Sorry to interrupt but, um, have you seen a little boy come by here by any chance?" Peridot asks. 

"Oh my god. With curly brown hair?"

"Yes! That's the one!" Peridot grins, sighing with relief to herself. At last. 

"Yeah, man, he just robbed us." Amethyst says. "Was with this big hunk of muscle. They were in matching outfits."

Peridot stops cold. "W-what? No." 

"You heard me, bro. They just left, like, twenty minutes ago." Amethyst replies with a shrug. 

Steven... With a robber? That's insane. He would never walk into something like that. He's a smart kid, Peridot thinks to herself. 

"Amethyst, holy shit! You should come help look for him!" Lapis exclaims. "It would be totally rad! We could go... Running around, and searchin' all over, it'll be great."

"I dunno man, I've gotta work." Amethyst says. 

"Please, buddy, pleeeeeeease?" Lapis begs. Amethyst takes a look around. There's nobody in the building besides them. Besides, what was better than working in an empty fast food place? Anything at this point. She sighs. 

"Uh, y'know..." She mumbles. "Uh, I'm sure it won't hurt anyone if I leave." She runs around the counter to the side Lapis and Peridot are standing on. Lapis lets out a little squeal and they run out the front doors, leaving Peridot. Amethyst was tagging along now? Was this going to become a big group endeavour? Peridot rolls her eyes and walks out to follow them. After all, she had the car keys. They weren't going anywhere without her. 

Peridot climbs into the front seat. "We've gotta get to the gas station first." She tells them as she starts the car and pulls out. 

Amethyst dives into the backseat, lying across the leather seats. She lets out a deep exhale. 

"Aw, man. I'm glad I get a break. I was working the night shift. Good thing you two showed up." She says, stretching out on the seats. 

"Do I need to remind you again?" Peridot asks, scoffing. 

Lapis looks at her, confused. 

"Uh, sorry, chief." Amethyst calls from the back. "I'm not too sure."

"SEATBELTS!" Peridot shouts. Lapis rolls her eyes and does as she's told, clicking the belt into place. Amethyst does the same, before promptly taking it back off once Peridot looks away. Lapis looks back at her and shakes her head, prompting her to put it back on. She mouths the words 'she'll kick you out', and with that, Amethyst hurriedly puts it back on before Peridot sees. 

"Okay, gang." Peridot announces. "It's a race to the morning! Let's catch that Steven!" 

Amethyst and Lapis mutter the most, if Peridot were to put it into her own words, depressing cheers of excitement ever known to mankind, and she sighs. 

"Right after we get gas."


	8. Gut Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet has car troubles,,,,,
> 
> •••
> 
> Sorry for not updating in so long rip I'll try and be more on the ball with chapters uwu

If there was one thing Steven knew, it was that this lady's car was so much nicer than Jasper's. It was clean, warm and if smelled nice. Like a perfume that a mom would wear. She even had seat heaters, which Steven had turned on without hesitation. 

"I'm Garnet." She says, without him even having to ask for her name. "What's your name?"

"Steven." He mumbles. 

"Ah, I had a friend named Steven back in the eleventh grade." Garnet tells him. "We had a a good time."

They keep on driving for a while. Garnet's car stereo doesn't play the radio, but rather a small iPod connected by an auxiliary cord. The music is definitely sticking to a theme, it's mostly R&B songs with a female singer, but the volume is turned way down. It's not what he's used to, as his parents usually played old school rock in the car, courtesy of his dad, who used to be part of a band. He had all sorts of CDs, and they would play them in the car all the time. Listening to one of those songs now would bring back so many memories for Steven. Like going out for ice cream with his mom when he was six, she loved ice cream. Or another song would remind him of the car ride to Seattle when he was eight. It was times like those that made him think of the songs they played on drives. Music was a big part of his life, and his memories. 

"Um, Garnet?" Steven asks after a while of silence.

"Hm?" She hums in reply. 

"Do you think you could take me back to my house?" He asks. "It's on the other side of town." 

"Mm," Garnet answers with a nod of her head. He assumes that this means yes. 

There's something about Garnet that makes her seem so... Cool. She seems like the type of person that could snap your head off with a stone-cold look on her face, but at the same time, she looked like she could comfort you if you were sad. Or like she could give you expert advice when you needed it. She seems trustworthy to Steven. Besides, she did practically save him from Jasper. 

"You were with Jasper, weren't you?" Garnet asks, it's as if she knew just what Steven was thinking of. He nods. "That's what I thought. The last time she stole a kid to help do her dirty work, she got..." She pauses. "Madly busted." 

"She... went to jail?" Steven says in a small voice. 

"Yes."

For about the 5th time tonight, Steven gets that feeling where it feels a bit like he swallowed too much water and it gets stuck in his throat and his stomach drops, kind of like the feeling you get on a roller coaster and you go down the first big drop. He can't explain it. It's somewhere between fear, shock and regret. Tonight was about the worst experience of his life, and yet, he knew he would consider this entire thing a learning lesson. He didn't want to experience this kind of fear ever again. The fear that he was a part of something bad.   
He doesn't realize it at first because he had zoned out for a while just thinking, but it started raining. No, snowing. Tiny spots of white drift down from the sky only to splat down on the windshield. They lay there for a second before quickly melting under the cozy warmth of the car. Steven watches the snowflakes. When two of them land one beside another, a contest to see which one will melt first begins. He ends up cheering for one of them in his mind. 

They reach the bridge that crosses from the north side of town to the south. It crosses over the river in the middle of the city, dividing it in half. Steven liked the south side much better. It had all these beautiful old buildings downtown. His mom loved them, which made him grow an appreciation for them as well. Everything was so colourful and lovely. It was so full of life. However, the north side was the complete opposite. Dark, ugly and dreary. Sadly, there was a vast majority of residents of his city that lived there. They couldn't afford any better. Living on the south side was definitely something like a privilege. Steven would never call the two sides the "rich side" and the "poor side", but it was the truth of the matter. 

Steven smiles to himself. He's finally going home after this long night. It's comforting, the thought of it. Home. His house. His room, his bed, his front door. Just the front walkway would be enough to make him cry at this point. 

They make it off the bridge with a small bounce. Steven tells Garnet the street he lives on, and she heads in that direction. Steven sighs. Finally going home. He puts his hands in his pockets. 

Suddenly, a rattling noise comes from the back of the car. Then, a sputtering. Garnet gulps. She shakes her head slowly. 

"No. No, no, no..." She whispers to herself. "SHIT!" She exclaims as the car begins to make a low grumbling sound. 

"Oh no! Garnet, what's going on?" Steven asks, scared. 

"The car's breaking down!" Garnet takes a death grip on the steering wheel, and Steven does the same on the handle attached to the ceiling. The car swerves across the road and with one final gut-wrenching clatter, it lurches to a stop on the side of the road. Garnet leans her head on the steering wheel of the car and curses under her breath. 

"What now?" Steven asks. 

"Now..." Garnet turns to look at him. "We walk." 

Steven groans, aggravated. "Walk? But it's miles away!" 

"Yes, your point?" Garnet asks, raising an eyebrow. She goes to unbuckle her seatbelt. 

"That's a really long walk! It might take at least an hour!" Steven exclaims. 

"Do you wanna get home or not?" 

Walking isn't the only option. There was the 24 hour bus, as well as the taxis; there must be at least one roaming about. Plus, hitch hiking was still an idea.   
Steven just nods. 

"Thought so." Garnet shrugs. "C'mon."

"What about your car?" Steven asks her. Garnet replies saying that she will call a tow truck later.

And with that, they head out. They walk down the side of the road. It's snowing, but he manages to stay somewhat warm by covering his hands with his sleeves, even though the snow lightly lands on him and the wind ruffles up his hair.


	9. Impulsively - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis is bae goals 
> 
> •••
> 
> This chapter will be a two parter, next week's chapter will not be in Steven's POV.

The gas station isn't a long drive from the McDonalds. In fact, it doesn't take more than three minutes to drive up to the pump in front of the 7-11. But those three minutes are positively obnoxious. Lapis and Amethyst will not stop talking, which irritates Peridot to no end. They're going on and on about everything there is to talk about. Apparently, Part 2 was a party. A continuation of a previous one a few months before. Lapis was there, and things got a bit rowdy, for lack of a better word. A wild, dangerous party where you wanted nothing more than to go, but the second got arrived you wanted to leave. Anybody who was everybody was there, and as far as they were concerned, it was still going on through the morning. 

After turning the car off with the turn of her key, Peridot steps out onto the now frosty pavement and tells Lapis and Amethyst to wait for a moment while she pays for the gas, but Amethyst shakes her head and starts to unbuckle her seatbelt. 

"I'm coming in with you," she says. "There's a special something in there that I've gotta pick up."

Lapis smirks. "Are you getting Cheetos?" She asks in a sing songy voice. 

"You know me well, my friend, but no. Something else." Amethyst says, shooting a wink to Lapis as if to hint at something that she didn't want Peridot to know. It takes a while for Lapis to process it, staring blankly into the distance for a bit until she figures it out, then when she does, she nods secretively while giving a small giggle. 

"Ohhh," Lapis grins. "Gotcha." 

Peridot is confused, but, like everything that's happened over the course of the night, she just decides to go along with it. After all, she'll figure out what she means when she gets inside. 

Once she opens the door, Amethyst turns towards the cashier, and a flirty grin crosses her face. The girl behind the counter has strawberry blonde hair, hacked off into a pixie cut. She has almost ghostly pale skin, so pale that it looks translucent. The bags under her ice blue, cold staring eyes make her look much older than she probably is. She's paper-thin, too. Very skinny and small. Narrow shoulders and hips, but with a round face with apple cheeks that don't match. When she spots Amethyst, she smiles, a matching set of dimples digging into her cheeks. 

"Hey, P!" Amethyst waves. 

"You bitch, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" The girl standing behind the counter scoffs teasingly, all the while smiling at her. 

"Meh, we were in the neighbourhood." Amethyst shrugs. 

"We?" 

"Oh, right. Peridork, his is my girlfriend, Pearl." Amethyst introduces her. "Pearl, this is Peridot, but me and Lapis started calling her Peridork so you may wanna follow the trend."

"Nice to meet you, uh, Peri... Dork? Did I say it right?" Pearl says. 

Amethyst lets out a hearty cackle. "Aw man, Peridot, Pearl's a riot, you're gonna love her." She tells Peridot. 

"Yeah, um, I'll need to buy some gas." Peridot steps in front of Amethyst, holding up her credit card for Pearl to see. 

After purchasing her gas, Peridot heads out and fills up the car, while Amethyst stays with Pearl. Peridot peeks into the car, only to find Lapis has reclined the passenger seat chair and has her feet up on the dashboard; her grandma wouldn't be happy to find footprints on the car. The hoodie she's wearing is pulled up to cover her nose. She appears to be... Smelling it? What could it possibly smell like that was appealing? Peridot didn't think her hoodie was smell-worthy. It probably just smelled like her mom's expensive fruity-smelling shampoo that she had stolen uses of more times than she'd like to admit, or her deodorant, which barely even had a strong scent. For all she knew, she could secretly smell like something really nice and she wasn't aware of it because she was so used to it. Whatever it was, Lapis was quite into it. 

Once the tank is full, Peridot goes back inside to get Amethyst, who is still standing there talking to Pearl. The second Peridot enters, Amethyst turns to face her with a look that seems like she's going to ask her something, and she knows exactly what it is. 

"Peridot! Do you think you'd be okay with Pearl tagging along with us to find your kid?" Amethyst asks, pleadingly. 

Called it. 

"Oh, uh, I don't know, I think three might be a crowd." Peridot says, trying to sound sorry, which was not the case. She already felt left out enough. Lapis probably knew Pearl, and they'd just be there having a good time while Peridot kept quiet, driving. Plus, Amethyst seemed pretty wild, who knew what kind of saucy stuff she'd try to pull off with Pearl. 

Figuratively and literally. 

"C'mon, you've gotta loosen up a bit!" Amethyst says. Pearl nods in agreement. 

"Um, I think I'll ask Lapis." Peridot tells them, heading outside to get Lapis. 

She knocks on the window on the passenger side, mouthing, "Come out here." Lapis shoves open the door and clumsily stumbles out, holding onto Peridot's shoulder for support so that she doesn't fall. Once she's standing, she pushes her bangs out of her eyes, only to find Amethyst and Pearl have come out of the building, ad they're headed toward them. 

"Lapis, I have to talk to you." She says, dragging her around to the back. 

The gas station has an adjoined car wash, and it's one of the only ones in town. Peridot figures that this will be a good place to talk to Lapis. No interruption, probably no Her plan is to convince Lapis to drop Amethyst here with Pearl and just continue on their own. Besides, they'd have more fun doing that than coming along trying to find Steven. She had come to the conclusion that she didn't want Amethyst or Pearl, let alone both of them, on this little adventure of theirs. She didn't like Lapis paying attention to Amethyst rather than her, which was a little attention whore-ish, but she couldn't help it. It was almost as if she was... Jealous? 

No. Not in a million years. 

"Lapis, I don't think Amethyst should stick around. I mean, her girlfriend's in there. Why don't we just leave her here?" Peridot asks. 

"Pearl's here?" Lapis asks, looking behind her, trying to see out of the car wash entrance. 

"Well yes, but just focus for a second." Peridot grabs Lapis's arm and pulls her back so that they're face to face. They're awkwardly close, Lapis's arm is lightly brushing against Peridot's and they are almost toe to toe. "I think that we might be better off continuing on our own." She says slowly so that Lapis understands. 

Thing is, she forgot it was a car wash. With motion sensors. 

The second they heard the whir of the water coming up the pipes, Peridot knew she had made a mistake in coming into the car wash. The water showers down on them like ten hundred garden sprinklers all at once. Peridot looks over at Lapis, expecting to see her crying. But she's not. She's laughing. She's smiling. She grabs onto Peridot's hands and begins to spin her around. The concrete floor is slippery, but they manage to not fall. Peridot can't help but smile a little. Lapis was truly a child at heart, as was Peridot, although she would never admit it. 

Just like she would never admit the flutter of her heart and the blush of her cheeks when Lapis, impulsively but with some purpose, leaned in to press her lips to Peridot's.


	10. Impulsively - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *agressively sings toxic by brittany spears*
> 
> This is the first kiss scene I've ever written and posted rip

Kissing Lapis wasn't as bad as Peridot had initially thought it would be. In fact, it only the slightest bit awkward. A few nose bumps here and there make it the tiniest bit uncomfortable, but they manage to make the situation somewhat sweet anyways. Lapis' lips are soft, it was as if they begged to be kissed. Peridot could feel the light flutter of Lapis' eyelashes on her cheek, like two tiny butterflies. But, the best part is that she can feel her smiling, she didn't even have to open her eyes to look. Her hands begin to make their way to Peridot's head and she clumsily tangles her fingers through her choppy blonde hair, and Peridot's cheeks begin to flush a horrible, and definitely noticeable bright pink. Lapis's breath is still bad, though. Her lips, her breath, they taste toxic. Absolutely toxic, but in the best way.

The kiss is ephemeral; it doesn't take long for Lapis to tear her lips away from Peridot's. She looks almost embarrassed. A look of blundering guilt clouds her face in a wave of burning red blush. Her face goes red and her bottom lip quivers, which Peridot has found that it tends to do often. 

"L-Lapis, um..." Peridot mumbles as their mouths part. Their faces are still close, she can feel Lapis's breath on her cheek. "What was that for?" 

Lapis goes beet red. She doesn't reply. Instead, she lowers her head awkwardly, trying to cover her eyes with her thick bangs. It's almost as though she doesn't want Peridot to see something. She could be crying, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary since tonight she did nothing but cry. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it felt that way in Peridot's mind. She couldn't have smudged her makeup, since they had taken it all off back at her house. 

Peridot tilts Lapis' head up with the tips of her fingers so that she is now looking her in the eyes.   
She had never seen Lapis this close up, and she notices a discolouration on a section of her cheek. It's almost a hue of blue or purple. A bruise, obviously. 

Peridot gasps quietly, passing a thumb across her cheek where the small bruise is. She wants to ask, "How did that happen?" But Lapis probably doesn't want to talk about it. She makes a small wince in pain when Peridot touches the bruise. There were so many possibilities regarding how she bruised her face. The party could have gotten pretty violent. Maybe she did something she wasn't supposed to do. Maybe someone got so drunk that they hit her for no particular reason. Maybe she fell to the ground. So many different possible things, and yet she had no idea. 

She doesn't speak about it, instead she ushers her out of the car wash, only to find that it is now snowing much more than before. The tiny snowflakes are accumulating into piles on the ground. The second they step outside, the snow starts sticking to their hair and eyelashes, before quickly melting into droplets of water. Lapis crosses her arms, covering her hands with the sleeves of the now soaking wet hoodie. Her teeth begin to chatter, as do Peridot's. It's frigid, and it's weather like this that makes Peridot she were at home in bed under mountains of blankets. Maybe some music playing in her headphones. Maybe with a cup of tea. She would look out the window and ridicule the people that had to be outside in the snow. But strangely enough, if this were the situation, she would still want to have Lapis there. She was the only real friend that she'd had in a very long time. She really hoped that this whole adventure wouldn't be just a one night stand. She wanted to at least get Lapis' number. 

But now was not the time. 

"Hey, at least we have a warm car at our disposal." Peridot shrugs. 

That's when she realizes something important. 

Steven doesn't have a warm car at his disposal. 

Steven! She had completely forgotten their main mission. She still has to find him. Who knows where he is by now? Urgently, she rushes Lapis to the car. Amethyst and Pearl are waiting for them by the door to the gas station. Peridot gestures for them to get in the car. She decides it won't matter because, when it all comes down to it, she's the one behind the wheel. She's the only one that controls wether they stop or not. Amethyst tugs Pearl along and they climb into the back seat. Amethyst seems thrilled that Peridot finally came around in letting them come along. 

Peridot is still wondering about that bruise, though. In the light, she makes a remark that it's darkening. Once everybody gets into the car, Peridot notices out of the corner of her eye that Lapis is cupping a hand over her cheek, right where the bruise is. How on earth did she get hit so hard? The ruptured section of her face is covered by Lapis's shaky hand - she must have seen it somehow. In the reflection in the window of the car? Or the rear view mirror? Somehow she had seen her face and was now trying to cover it up so that Peridot wouldn't see it. This was pointless, though. Lapis knew very well that Peridot had seen it in the car wash. It must be getting worse. 

They pull out of the gas station. 

As they drive, Peridot has to constantly remind everyone to keep an eye out for a kid roaming through the streets. She switches the headlights on to high beam, and everybody looks out their respective window. Amethyst leans her head on her hand, propped up on the side console of the door. She begins to fall asleep. Peridot rolls her eyes, as Amethyst is the least of her worries right now. Steven is the top priority. She has to find him. She just has to. 

Soon, they reach the outskirts of town. It's around the area where the bridge crosses the river to get to the other side of town. The north side. Peridot peers into the distance. Two figures are approaching. One of them presenting very tall, the other being substantially smaller. Peridot's heart begins to beat quicker than it has in a long time. Could it be? Could she finally be finding Steven, along with some stranger she'd never seen before? Will this be the end of this whole escapade? Will she finally be able to go home?

Apparently not. As they drive up the road, it isn't in fact Steven walking with a stranger, but two adult hitch hikers donning giant backpacks, scruffy beards and sticking their thumbs out for all to see. Peridot sighs and rolls her eyes for what has to be the millionth time tonight. Where was he? If there was one thing she knew right now, it was that finding Steven in even a small city was harder than she thought it would be. 

But what she didn't know was that Steven was a lot closer than she had thought. If only she were looking out the other window, because there, on the other side, walking down the unlit side of the street, a familiar, curly haired boy, along with a taller woman, were trudging helplessly through the blizzard of snow.


	11. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the second to last chapter lmao I never said that this fic would be long

He saw her. 

That was definitely, one hundred percent, Peridot who had just driven by. He was so relieved, she was looking for him. She really did care, after all. He was finally going home.

Well, maybe. She had driven away already, but the car was still just barely in sight. He tugs on the sleeve of Garnet's hoodie. She grits her chattering teeth. It's obvious that she's cold. She was definitely not expecting any of this to happen. Steven almost feels bad for dragging her into this whole fiasco, but then he remembers that she was the one who offered to help get him home in the first place. And plus, who could ever predict that her car would break down? 

"Garnet! I just saw my babysitter! She's in that car, right there!" Steven points towards the car. 

Garnet looks down at him. She still looks as intimidating as ever, but with a glint of belief in what he was saying in her face. 

"Are you sure?" She asks, looking serious. Steven nods, and with that, Garnet bends over. "Get on my back. If you really saw her, we're gonna run " Garnet tells him, with the slightest smile. With that, a huge grin spreads across Steven's face. He climbs up onto Garnet's back, which is quite the task, due to the fact that she is rather tall. However, it's not hard to stay up on her back as her hips are wide, the better to hold on to with his feet. She takes a deep breath. 

"Ready?" She asks. Steven nods. "Hold on tight." 

And with that, she breaks into a sprint. She's fast. Really fast. Snow pelts Steven in the face, but he doesn't care - he wants to do this. Wants to get home. They're gaining on them now. The car is only a few feet away, but the car keeps driving so they're always a few feet behind. Steven can almost hear Garnet's racing heartbeat, let alone her heaving breath. She's giving it all she's got, and Steven wonders why she cares so much. Does she feel bad for him? What's the situation here, he wonders. 

Suddenly, the car stops. 

Garnet, with one last huff of breath, runs right up to the car, which has pulled over. The door on the driver's side swings open, and out steps a very familiar girl with blonde hair, round glasses, and a goofy looking smile.

It's Peridot, at long last. She's standing there with rosy cheeks from the cold and soaking wet hair and clothes, but she looks happier than Steven had ever seen her. 

"Steven!" She exclaims, almost at the volume of a scream. Steven jumps off Garnet's back and runs up to her. She scoops him up and gives him a hug. Her clothes are soggy and her skin is covered in goosebumps, she looks pretty bad, if anyone were to describe her appearance at the time, but still, it's the most comfort Steven's ever felt all night. Because she finally found him. 

At last. 

"Oh man, Steven you have no idea how worried I was about you. I'm so glad to see you!" She smiles, but quickly assumes her usual grimace. "Wait, I mean, no. I'm not. I'm mad at you! Don't ever sneak off like that again, punk, you hear me? You put me through so much. I had to put up with so much..." She trails off, then looks through the window of the car. There's a girl in the passenger seat, who is noticeably woozy looking. She has a pretty face. She has blue hair and bright blue eyes that threaten to close with a tired smile. And she has this... look in her face that makes you want to fall in love with her, but part of you is saying that if you do, she'll somehow break your heart. But having your heart broken by a girl like her seems like a privilege. A painful privilege that will hurt like hell, but you'll have to put up with it with a smile on your face. 

"But I think... I think I had fun anyways." Peridot says, not even to Steven, but more to the girl in the passenger seat. "J-just get in the car, you and your... Friend." She snaps out of it, looking at Garnet. 

They do so, Garnet cramming into the backseat with the two other girls that Steven doesn't know. Steven sits in Peridot's lap, him being small enough for Peridot to be able to see the road while she drives. 

And it's silent. 

They can see the sun coming up over the horizon. The sky goes from blue to purple to a brilliant deep fuchsia-pink. Steven can't stop staring in awe at the colour of the sky. It's nothing like he'd ever seen before, he had never once seen a sunrise. But, hey, there's a first time for everything. 

There's very little conversation in the car. The girl with long, brown hair falls asleep on the shoulder of the taller girl. Garnet sits uncomfortably still, hunched over and staring down at her feet. The girl sitting in the passenger seat has her legs crossed. She has a content look on her face, and Steven notices that she keeps constantly glancing over at Peridot. Despite the girl's sleepy expression on her face, she looks wide awake in her mind. She looks like she wants to stay up forever, but her body is giving out. 

They pull up to a house. It's small and rather old, but nice nonetheless. It's right along the river. Steven is jealous, he had always wanted to live right by some sort of body of water. Whoever lives here was very lucky, in Steven's opinion. 

"Is this it?" Peridot asks the girl. She nods. "I'll walk you to the door." 

"Hey, my house is just a few blocks down from here, Pearl and I can just head down there." One of the two girls in the back says. 

"That's fine," Peridot says. "You guys can go."

"Seeya at school, Lapis!" The girl says with a grin. The girl in the front seat, apparently named Lapis, waves lazily. 

She, along with the other girl, exits the car and they begin to walk down the street. 

Peridot and Lapis do the same, and they walk up to the door of the house while Steven watches them attentively. Peridot has to practically drag Lapis up to the door. She can barely stand, but Peridot assists her, somewhat. Once they reach the door, they begin to talk. Steven tries to read their lips, but to no real prevail. Although he can sort of tell that the conversation is heartfelt. Then, a hug. A caring embrace which they stay entangled in for a while. They let go, and Lapis leans in to either whisper something in Peridot's ear, or possibly to... 

Kiss her on the cheek. 

Yep, that was it. 

And with that, Lapis disappeared into the house. 

Peridot began to make her way back to the car, and when she did, she gave a loud sigh. And as they begin to drive away, everything's quiet, until Peridot sighs again later and only three words escape her lips. 

"I'll miss her."


	12. Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, this is the last chapter of under the influence. Thanks for sticking around until the very end guys!! This fic was so much fun to write and I really hope you liked reading it :)

Pounding head. Shaky hands. Stomach pain. Dizziness. No feeling. No expression. No memory. 

What happened? 

Lapis rolls over in her bed, clinging to her blankets and pillow. She's cold, being under the covers doesn't always make you warm. Her head is spinning, spinning like a top. She can't stop trying to recall what happened the previous night. She wants to know, but she can't. Not really. She doesn't even know who to ask. She's just dizzy, and really tired. She attempts to collect facts that she knows happened. She knows that she had one too many drinks. Well, maybe not one; more like five. She knows that her best friend's boyfriend kissed her. She knew she didn't return the affection in any way. She knew her best friend punched her in the face. She knew she was unconscious for a period of time. During this time they presumably put her in a car. And they drove her out to the other side of town only to ditch her on the street corner. She remembers sitting there for a long, long time. Some friends they are, Lapis thinks. She makes an agreement with herself. A mental note that she won't talk to them at school on Monday. She doesn't want to risk them taunting her yet again. Who knows how many rumours have already spread by now? Who knows how many people think that Lapis is a traitor? Probably many, she assumes. Maybe she can get away with staying home on Monday. She feels like she needs more than two days to recover from this disgusting state. This hangover. This horrible feeling of regret bubbling up and festering in her mind. She never wants to leave her bed. All she wants is to stay, free of judgement, in the comfort of her home 

She doesn't quite remember how she got back to her house, or when she did. Obviously, everything is just a surreal blur to her. Maybe she needs more sleep. She rolls over to look at the digital clock on her bedside table. It's a blur of red light at first, but she squints her eyes to find that the numbers read 7:14 AM. When did she get home? 3 AM? Like everything that happened overnight, she doesn't remember. If it really was three, that would mean that she got approximately four hours of sleep. She didn't want to wake up. In fact, why should she? It's still early. She still had a few more hours before she would have to officially say, "Alright, Lapis. Time to face the day." It would make sense to sleep in on a Saturday morning. 

And so she does, and she's out like a light. 

•••

Later on, it's 10 AM when she wakes up. She still feels horrid, but what makes her get out of bed at last is her mother calling her downstairs. 

"Lapis, there's somebody here to see you!" 

Great. It was probably someone from the party that had come to beat her up. Or it could be one of her (ex)friends here to apologize, to be an optimist about it. Either way, it might be worth seeing who it was. Just out of curiosity, not that she wanted to engage in a human interaction. She forces herself to sit up, which only brings her a head rush, so she drops her head in her hands, trying to take the pain away, which takes a moment. Slowly, she swings her legs over the side of the bed and stumbles out, ignoring the pain in her head that only increases. Walking down the stairs is a different story, though. She trips over her feet every few steps, but manages to make it. 

Dragging her fingertips along the wall for balance, she walks down the hallway toward the front door. With a shaky hand, she turns the doorknob. Slowly pulling open the door, she squints at the bright sun which deprives her of her vision for a moment. She rubs her eyes in attempt to see clearer, and there stands a girl. She's about her age, pretty short in height. Her messy blonde hair is twisted into a bun on top of her head, but the thing that really catches her attention is her bright, peridot-green eyes behind her round glasses. Hm, peridot. That's familiar. 

"Lapis!" The person standing at the door exclaims, sounding happy to see her. It's nothing that she recognizes, though. Well, maybe. She can just barely place it. It's high pitched for sure. It almost sounds like a child, but not really. 

"Lapis? What's wrong?" She asks Lapis. 

"Who..." Lapis says, having to clear her throat. "Who are you?" 

With that, it looks like the girl's heart had sunken in her chest. 

"W-what? How do you not remember me?" She asked, shocked. "You have to remember who I am."

"S-Sorry, pal." Lapis slurs, trying to get her thoughts straight. "I'm sorry I guess, but, ah- I don't really remember anything that happened last night. Not really. I mean, I-I'm super hungover at the moment." 

"You must be kidding. I mean, I helped you get home, you kissed me in a car wash!" The girl exclaims. "You're literally wearing my hoodie right now." She points to Lapis's torso, and sure enough, she notices that the hoodie that she is wearing is one that she doesn't recognize, along with a pair of unfamiliar sweatpants if she looks down more. We're those really her clothes? Or was this stranger (or quite possibly not a stranger) just crazy? Lapis supposes that it really could be either one. Technically, anything could have happened that night. 

"C'mon, Lapis Lazuli. It's me, Peridot!"

Peridot. 

That's where it all clicks. 

"W-wait... Were you the one who... I think..." She struggles to find the right words. Someone had helped her. Someone short, blonde and horrible. But the best kind on horrible. Mean, but only when she needed to be. Stressed out, more than anything. She had big glasses and a constant scowling expression, but with the biggest heart. And she was standing front of her on her doorstep, pleading for her to remember her. And the memory is there, but it's vague. Very vague. 

"You were the asshole who helped me out." Lapis says. 

A wave of relief washes over Peridot, and a genuine smile replaces the scrunched up frown. "I just came back here to get your number, I wanted to talk to you again." She says, sort of shyly. 

"Oh, um, I'll right back." Lapis walks into her kitchen to get a pen. She wants her number? Nobody had ever actually wanted to get her number before. She returns, pen in hand. 

"I doubt that I'll be able to write in this state, so you can like, write it on your hand or something." Lapis shrugs, handing her the pen, which she takes. As Lapis told her the series of numbers out loud, Peridot wrote them down one by one on the back of her hand. 

"Okay, well, I should go, you need to recover." Peridot says. "I hope you feel better soon, Lapis." She says with a timid tone. 

"Yeah, thanks for checking in." Lapis says with a weak smile. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Peridot agrees. "See you around." 

••••

They never really saw each other again. Nor did they really think about each other. But they kept each other in the backs of their minds, and were reminded of each other whenever they saw the colours of each other's eyes, which corresponded to the gemstones their names originated from. 

Green and blue.


End file.
